Wed, 30 Apr 2008

Having watched people poop on the streets in Mumbai, wanting to help stop
that, and not knowing what to do, I was pleased to come across the PoopReport's
project to help people in India. Specifically, schoolgirls in Uttar Pradesh.
They can build a composting toilet for $250, which is a fair sum, but less
than the computer you're using to read this posting. Granted, it's not
Mumbai, but the problem is still the same.

To create a more
conducive climate for business, the governor said New York must make
doing business in the state cheaper by investing in infrastructure and
reducing high energy and health care costs.

How the heck is he going to do that? By pressing the "lower energy
costs" and "lower health care costs" buttons? He's a Democrat, and
Democrats are historically unwilling to do what is actually needed to
lower these costs: nothing. Government needs to get out of the way of
creative resourceful people with ideas. Government has a positive
role to play while getting out of the way: by ensuring that all
relations between people are peaceful. But that's government's only
role.

He goes on to say:

For his part, Gov. Paterson
reiterated his commitment to belt-tightening and fiscal prudence.
"Our economy is still reeling," the governor said. "When this storm
hits, we can't simply do what Albany usually does: turn around and tax
the first business or the first resident we see. Rather, we have to
cut wasteful spending."

No, David, you need to cut all spending, not just
the wasteful spending. You need to do less for us, you need to do
less to us. You need to do less, period. Shut down department after
department, and send the people home to get productive jobs. Most of
what New York State does is either irrelevant or actively harmful.

Tue, 29 Apr 2008

Earlier I spoke about the
"stimulus" when
it was still merely under discussion. Today comes a LA Times article saying
that most recent public opinion polls found that, on the eve of distribution
of the stimulus checks, most Americans plan to
save the stimulus rather than spend it. Of course, the stimulus serves
NO PURPOSE WHATSOEVER if people save it.

Wed, 23 Apr 2008

Everybody willing to give up home, family, community, home, hearth,
and (within two generations) language to come here has the same nature
as everyone else already here, and is thus already an American.
We should not stand in the way of anyone who wants to set up a new life
in America.

Wed, 16 Apr 2008

The comedian John Oliver was quoted as saying, about an inflatable floating
barbacue grill, which lets you cook while soaking in your pool:

"Is there any greater example of what it is to live in the freest nation on Earth than that?", he marvels with no small dose of irony

Sure, it's funny, just the idea of cooking in a pool. But why would it
be ironic that freedom would produce strange outliers? In a free society,
most people would be most like most other people. But out on the ends of
the bell curve you've got some strange people doing strange things, and
selling strange stuff. The face that you can find this strangeness is
good evidence that America really is the freest nation on Earth.

Fri, 04 Apr 2008

We need to stop sunspots! Rather than worrying about silly
CO2 emissions, we need to stop the sun from varying the number
of sunspots! Or ... maybe .... more sensibly ... we should understand
that the climate changes. Rather than engage in futile efforts to
maintain today's climate in perpetuity, we should be prepared to adapt
to changes in the climate? Maybe? Ya think?

Thu, 03 Apr 2008

It's good that government operatives in the Department of Homeland
inSecurity realize that anti-future laws are harmful and are going to "bypass" them. Good idea!
How about they allow us to "set aside" these laws, too? After all, building
a wall to keep ot workers is going to have negative effects on businesses
(already is). They should grant businesses a boon by "waiving" these laws
just as they are doing.

Frigging morons. Help! My country has been invaded by a government,
and they won't go away!

Wed, 02 Apr 2008

Ever heard anybody say that something must be done "because of the
terrorist threat"? The purpose of saying this is to stop discussion.
Maybe there are alternative actions? Maybe it would be better to do
nothing? But no, some people try to keep you from talking about these
alternatives. Isn't that horrible?

Ever heard anybody say that something must be done "because of the
global warming"? The purpose of saying this is to stop discussion.
Maybe there are alternative actions? Maybe it would be better to do
nothing? But no, some people try to keep you from talking about these
alternatives. Isn't that horrible?

Both parties resort to the nuclear bomb of politics. If you are a
good member of their camp, you'll SIT DOWN, SHUT UP, and do what your
leaders demand.

Tue, 01 Apr 2008

Aleecia M. McDonald, an attendee at David Isenberg's Freedom to Connect, pointed out in the chat room that if
we ask politicans to give up privacy (e.g. through financial disclosures,
or invasion of private relationships), then we will have only politicians
who put no
value on privacy. The laws they enact will no doubt reflect their
values, and will no doubt have no respect for privacy. Very insightful
observation.

Both the new passport requirement for crossing the U.S. / Canada border,
and the requirement for standard driver's licenses makes me wonder if our
country is being run by morons. And if it is, what do we do about it?

The passport requirement is completely insane for two reasons. First,
because you can cross the Canadian border on lakes, rivers, and woods.
Neither the fish, the birds, nor the worms care if you show them your
passport. Second is an implication stemming from the first. Because
there are so many ways to cross, the border isn't so much as a line
as it is a zone extending into the US by some distance. So if one must have
a passport to cross the line, one must also have a passport at all times
within the zone. Thus, internal document checks. I was raised on
WWII movies where the Nazi SS barked "Papers Please!"

The driver's license as identification is also similarly insane.
Once you have an id card which everyone must have to enter federal
buildings (arguably unconstitutional; how do you petition your representatives
if you cannot enter the building housing their offices?) then everyone
will expect everyone to have that id card, and it will become a defacto
national id card. The problem with that is that once you've forged a card,
or gotten a valid card matching your biometrics but belonging to someone
else, you've gotten the keys to the kingdom. You can go everywhere and do
everything with that fake id.

We're more secure with the current mix of identification which people
don't trust overmuch.